What if the Internet was a world of its own, and furthermore, what if this was the setting of a blockbuster movie? This is the question I set out to answer several years ago when I wrote and produced a movie trailer titled “The Chronicles of Rick Roll”. I, along with a team of 50+ people, including viral video stars, film professionals, and volunteers, banded together to break the internet before it was cool. As we had hoped, the trailer exploded online, garnering millions of views and spurring countless stories in major entertainment media. Though we removed the trailer from its original channel, here it is again on PopMalt for your viewing pleasure.

Producing this trailer and working with all of the YouTube stars in it was an incredible experience, but the journey since then has been even more exciting. This trailer opened doors to things we could only have dreamed of 5 years ago, and for that, we are grateful. The project was never a prank (if it was, the joke was on my team and our wallets). Our goal was always to make a feature-length film that encapsulated elements of this trailer. While a lot has changed since the inception of this idea, that remains our goal.

At this point, we’re limited in what we are permitted to publicly disclose, but we do hope to keep the spirit and excitement of this concept alive in our current and future Hollywood endeavors. For now, “The Chronicles of Rick Roll” will live on in the very world it sought to romanticize on the big screen: the Internet. We hope it will continue to bring people laughter for years to come!

Maybe you’re seeing this trailer now for the first time? Maybe you saw it years ago but enjoyed seeing it again? At any rate, what did you think of it? Let us know in the comments section below. On a side note and as a bonus for reading this far, we felt it was high time to release some video footage of a top-secret, never-before-seen dance party featuring the viral cast of the trailer. Watch the original Numa Numa guy, Gary Brolsma, and the rest of the cast getting down to that classic song here: The Numa Numa Guy and Other Viral Video Stars Had a Dance Party.

Andrew Fischer is the Head Writer and Editor-in-Chief of PopMalt. He is an avid follower of all things pop and Internet culture, and works as Creative Director at NURV, a boutique creative multimedia and branding company.